The Border Collies

Jack

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Disclosures

Unless specifically stated otherwise in the individual post, beginning Nov. 1, 2009, every book read and "reviewed" on Books 'N Border Collies was purchased for my private collection or came from the public library system.

I am an Amazon Associate and some of the links in posts do lead to Amazon.

NOTICE: (Updated March 5, 2010)

Beginning December 19, 2009, Books 'N Border Collies will be posting but only intermittently while I pursue personal goals. I plan to share some reading I'm doing, but there will be no reviews. I will, however, be sharing my exploration of vegetarian cooking and the cookbooks and websites I use to educate myself. I hope you enjoy it!

Lezlie

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Preparing for October Reading

I am not one to engage in seasonally themed reading, but I plan to make an exception this October. During my never-ending quest for more stuff to read, I came across The Grotesque, a volume in Bloom's Literary Themes. Needless to say, I could not resist and had it overnighted to me. Here is what the publisher, Chelsea House, has to say about the book:

"The grotesque, often defined as something fantastically distorted that attracts and repels, is a concept that has various meanings in literature. This new volume contains 20 essays that explore the role of the grotesque in such works as Candide, Frankenstein, King Lear, The Metamorphosis, and many others. Some essays have been written specifically for the series; others are excerpts of important critical analyses from selected books and journals."

I received the book Friday, and I couldn't be more thrilled with this purchase! I love this topic, and as I prepare to read Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekel and Mr. Hyde, and a few Poe short stories, I think this will be a valuable addition to my list.

I'm wondering if Clare Clark, Cormac McCarthy and Chuck Palahniuk might qualify as "modern grotesque"? That is something to think about as I explore!

7 comments:

It just so happens that I'm reading some grotesque right now, too! The Collector of Hearts: New Tales of the Grotesque, by Joyce Carol Oates. I'm not sure where the line between grotesque and horror falls. I'm not sure which side of that line some of the authors you mentioned would be on. Palahniuk certainly toes the line a bit, but I would think of him as a contemporary grotesque, for sure.

Andi ~ I'm not sure where the line is either. I think it's a bit subjective, but I'm hoping this book will clear up a few questions I have. I read the intro essay yesterday and it intoduced me to a great Robert Browning poem that I'll talk about later.

Literate Housewife ~ Patrick McGrath is a recently discovered author for me that I'm dying to get to. I have a couple that I'm thinking about making room for next month. I'll have to look for The Grotesque, too!

Diane ~ I don't mean to. :-) I stumbled on this book and thought it was a perfect time to read it, so I snapped it up right away before the feeling could wear off. I hope it's as good as the money I spent on it. LOL!

Ladytink ~ I read Jekel & Hyde many years ago and I thought it was boring, but while I've always been an avid reader, I didn't appreciate classics until recently. I'll be curious to see what both of us think of it!

Rebecca ~ Thanks! I hope you enjoy all your RIP choices, too! October seems to be the easiest time to go with the "theme of the season". That and Christmas. Although, now that I think about it, I had a theme going in February for Black History Month, too.

Short Works Read In 2009

This will include short stories, essays and poetry. I will mostly likely not post thoughts on every piece listed here, especially individual poems, but the ones I do write about will be linked. If you have any questions about any of them, feel free to ask! Every group of 10 short stories/essays will be counted as a single "book" in my final book count at the end of the year. However, none of these "books" will qualify for the initial 100 books in the 100+ Reading Challenge. I'm not yet sure how to count single poems. Let's see if I read enough of them to merit counting. If not, they're just good reading!

Short Stories:

"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates (Read Online)"Hansel and Gretel" by The Brothers Grimm (Read Online)"A Report to an Academy" by Franz Kafka (Read Online)

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

In an effort to clean things up and make room for the massive list of books I will read this year (if all these Challenges have anything to say about it!), this list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and my progress can now be found from the link on my sidebar under "Ongoing Reading Projects". Or just click here! :-)